Battle of Wisbech

The Battle of Wisbech (120 AD) was the decisive battle of the Iceni rebellion of 120 AD. The Roman general Eligius Donicus and an army of 1,778 Roman troops landed in Roman Britain, having been built up from multiple Roman provinces, and proceeded to fight a 1,988-strong Iceni army under Micheil Granndach. The Romans won a decisive victory, losing 166 dead while the Iceni lost 823.

Background
In 120 AD, the Iceni tribe rose in rebellion against the Roman Empire after hearing of the Massacre of the Ninth Legion three years before. The Iceni were in high spirits, as they had won several victories against the Romans, including a pitched battle at Streatlam. Emperor Hadrian was concerned about the rising threat of the Iceni, as he was building "Hadrian's Wall" to mark the northern border of Britannia and to hold of the Picts; if he could not crush resistance within Roman Britain, it would be an enigma how he could defeat the Picts outside of his lands. The Roman general Eligius Donicus, who had just returned to Rome from a victory against the Germanic tribes on the Elbe River front, was tasked with leading an army of troops from as far east as Syria and as far west as Numidia and Spain to crush the Iceni in Britannia. Donicus gathered these troops at Gesoriacum (present-day Boulogne-sur-Mer, France), and the Roman army crossed the English Channel to Anderitum (present-day Pevensey, England). The Romans moved north to Cambridgeshire, where the main Iceni army of 1,988 troops was waiting for battle. The 1,778-strong Roman army met the Iceni there.

Battle
The Iceni had the high ground, but the Romans had a better army. The Romans positioned their Auxiliary Numidian Cavalry on their left flank and Legionary Cavalry on their right flank, with the Armored Legionnaries forming the first line and the Auxiliary Balearic Slingers being the second line. The Iceni attacked the Romans from uphill, but the Iceni swordsmen were pelted by rocks from the slingers and their forces charging the Roman left flank were peppered with javelin fire. The Roman left flank charged the Iceni in the middle and on the right after the left flank Iceni units were forced to flee, and the shirtless and armor-less Iceni warriors were slaughtered by the armored Roman troops. The Iceni general was slain in battle, causing them to retreat. Most of the Iceni army was still intact, but the shock of their general's death led to a collapse in morale. The Iceni army was annihilated, melting away into the countryside. This battle ended the Iceni crisis of 120, but the Iceni tribe was still alive and Roman rule would continue to be challenged until their withdrawal in 410 AD.